December 21
88TonyB and I are chatting near pit one when we notice this couple sitting at a slot bank near the Lance Burton Theater. The lady appears to be crying. We really should’ve turned and walked away. She is crying because not only is she drunk, she is completely crackers.
Her main problem stemmed from the fact her daughter has filed false charges against her and to really muck matters up, the gypsies were out to get her, too, and boy, did this piss her off.
It takes us 20 minutes to escort her to her room and about halfway through 88TonyB loses patience and stops being nice. He does this brilliantly by raising his voice and even swearing while still appearing to be the best friend who really wants to help. He can get away with this because he’s Italian, I think. Someone with 13 years of Lutheran schooling – like me, for instance – probably couldn’t pull it off.
Later, Code Four Carlin and Bi-Bob attended to her as she required a half-hour escort to her car to get some medicine.
White Sox Metzger showed that while he is a good officer, he will never be a member of the Hotel Hall of Fame.
It was about midnight when power went out in the 200 wings of the 27th and 28th floors. OMP was on 10-10 and White Sox Metzger and Code Four Carlin get the call. 88TonyB and 77Rick head up as well. Soon enough OMP’s 10-10 ends and he favors everyone with an appearance on 28. We get the following radio traffic from White Sox Metzger:
– Henry 2, control, Henry 1 is on the floor, can I be sent on 10-10?
OK, I will grant you, a power outage at a three-star hotel is not to be confused with a blackout, say, in New York. Looting and rioting aren’t really a concern. But, you know, it does require a strong security presence just on general principles.
This pissed 88TonyB off. He got on the horn and declared that Henry unit 10-10’s were postponed till further notice, maybe for all eternity.
December 22
Lee, Jeremy and I played a joke on Princess Maria in PBX tonight.
We had just finished a welfare check, all three of us, because someone didn’t answer their wake-up call. It had been assigned to Jeremy, with me later called for back up and on the way I had run into Lee, who was wrapping up a call of his own, and, typically, decided to provide back up, too.
So we were all there. Our knocks got no response. Jeremy’s on the point and he makes entry and takes the main living area while Lee takes the can and I secure the doorway. No one is in the room.
After a welfare check it is customary to call PBX and let them know what happened since they are the ones who initiated the call. Calling PBX after welfare checks is also how I happened to come across Maria and Silvia, who invited me to stop by if I ever became bored enough.
So we’re standing near a house phone in the E-Core when I come up with the bright idea of having all three of us call PBX with the results of the same welfare check! Both Lee and I agree it would be great fun regardless if Maria or Silvia answer the phone each time, or if they both do.
I know. You’re thinking this makes me a complete maniac. I am not going to bother denying it.
So we mosey to the E-Core and Jeremy calls and Maria answers and he reports the guest was up and out of the room and chats for a bit and then hangs up. Then I call PBX and Maria answers again because Silvia is doing her nails and I report the guest was up and out and, focused on the mission, do not chat with Maria and I hang up and then Lee calls her and reports the same thing.
Maria missed the whole joke! If she’s wondering what those zany Henry units are up to she doesn’t let on at all! She doesn’t wonder what is going on or anything! This was surprising, but what are you going to do? Sometimes a good practical joke misses its mark.
Jeremy and I did have a scary moment when we responded to a runaway alarm clock. We knock and get no answer so we make entry and we see a wheelchair and the room has that old person odor and lying in the bed is an elderly lady with white hair.
Crap, we both thought, the alarm is still going off because she’s dead, but I go and check and you can hear her breathing so we both shrugged, turned off the alarm, and left.
Here is your Henry lineup for tonight:
Henry 1 – moi
Henry 2 – Lee
Henry 3 X-Ray